I have GFI outlet in my master closet, which backs up to the master bath. I’m using a small golden rod in my gun safe in that closet and the GFI keeps tripping. I don’t know how long it takes, but it’s not immediate. The only outlet in the bathroom that’s been used still works when the GFI in the closet is tripped, although I haven’t checked the others.

The golden rod pulls less than an amp of current, but of course it’s continuous. Is this typically a problem for GFI outlets? If I replace the outlet, is there any good reason to go back with a GFI in the closet, or should I just replace it with a standard outlet?

That’s an interesting question/problem.

Although I’m not an electrician but a class A contractor I can tell you that a GFI is not required in a closet. I would make sure that this circuit is not feeding any outlets in a bath, garage or exterior outlets. On the face of it it seems strange that this circuit only has one outlet on it…

GFIs trip at around 4 or 5 mA, so I'd guess it's a faulty Golden Rod with a loss that's right on the edge of that number.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
GFIs trip at around 4 or 5 mA, so I'd guess it's a faulty Golden Rod with a loss that's right on the edge of that number.

I’ve read that GFIs “wear out” or go bad over time. If this one is original to the house, and I think it is (no red/black on test/reset buttons), it’s over twenty years old. Isn’t it just as likely to be a bad GFI than a bad golden rod? If I replace it, is there any good reason to go back with a GFI in the closet? Most likely it won’t be used for anything other than the golden rod.

And the reason I ask about a constant current device making it not work properly is that I’ve had bad experiences in the past with electronic circuit breakers used instead of fuses. That was 12 volt stuff, but I think the way those determined how much current was being pulled was by temperature, so even if something was pulling less amps than the threshold, over time heat would build and the circuit would trip. The live well on my boat would always trip the circuit breaker after a period of time. Let it cool off and it would work fine for another period of time. Never had that problem with fuses.

Different animal, but makes me wonder if GFIs just aren’t designed for long term current draw.

I am not an electrician but based on my experience.

1. Yes GFCI's do go bad and need to be replaced.

2. You should inspect the GFCI and determine if there are any other plugs being served by the GFCI by seeing if there are any wires feeding downstream from back of the GFCI.

I’m not an electrician, but my closet also has a GFI outlet in it. It’s on the wall with a bathroom on the other side. I was told it protects some of the circuit that is in the bathroom.

They do sometimes go bad, I’ve replaced a couple over the years.

GFIs do wear out and trip all by themselves but from reading the OP, it looked to me like the golden rod was the only thing that tripped it.

If other things trip it as well, then it's the GFI.

The bigger issue is why does the other receptacle in the bathroom still work when the GFI is tripped? Is it on a different circuit? What is the closet GFI protecting? Is there a Jacuzzi tub or other bathroom circuit that is being protected with that closet GFI? Does the GFI trip correctly when using its test button? Is the GFI wired correctly WRT load/line terminals? A Goldenrod dehumidifier is a two-prong appliance and doesn’t have a ground, so it’s unlikely that it is faulting to ground, unless it’s faulting to the safe or something else. You could check that easily enough with a meter.

You need more information. I do know, in my experience, that most people’s first instinct is to blame a faulty GFI when it’s doing its job. Before I simply replace it with a non-protected circuit, I would AT LEAST replace it with a new GFI and see if the problem persists. Also put an amp meter on the circuit and see what the power draw is, to rule out an over current condition.

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The only outlet in the bathroom that’s been used still works when the GFI in the closet is tripped

Notwithstanding the issue with the circuit that does trip, but you want to make sure that some GFCI actually does protect that bathroom outlet.

The outlets in the bathroom are also GFI, and they seem to be working, at least with the test button.

From location, I’d guess the one in the closet is the last in the line, so not feeding the others.

Sometimes you have cheap bastards....middle bathroom feeds patio, garage, upstairs bathroom and downstairs bathroom outlets.

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Originally posted by 41:
Sometimes you have cheap bastards....middle bathroom feeds patio, garage, upstairs bathroom and downstairs bathroom outlets.

Here's a description of one GFI I've got. It's in the garage in the front of the house, just behind my auxiliary freezer.

The next outlet that's daisy chained off of it is 15 yards back, on my patio and I've got my Coke machine and a beer chiller located there as well as an Echo Dot playing Oldies. The Echo Dot is my alarm system for knowing when the GFI trips as the music stops as does the Coke machine and beer chiller.

Seems to me that's a long way to go when there's a bathroom that's about 15 feet away and it seems to me the shorter run of wire would be better, but I'm sure the builder had a good reason to do it the way he did.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Seems to me that's a long way to go when there's a bathroom that's about 15 feet away and it seems to me the shorter run of wire would be better, but I'm sure the builder had a good reason to do it the way he did.

The NEC does not allow the bathroom counter circuit to power anything else, with the exception of the lights in the bathroom, when that circuit powers only that same bathroom’s counter outlets, an no other.

If for some reason that GFI in the closet goes to other circuits... which is strange... the you could just branch off the hot running to it and put in a separate plug with out a GFI just for your golden rod.

Not an electrician but I learned a long time ago that an electric smoker usually trips a GFCI but not right away. Maybe a golden rod is similar in use. I think I'd try unplugging the rod and trying a lamp to see if the GFCI is bad or if they're just not playing nice together.

I couldn't live with this, not knowing what circuit went where. I'd map all the circuits out in the house. That's just me.

I think mapping these circuits would be worth doing for you, and that's not just me being over-zealous. I'd want to know for certain that all bathroom outlets that should be GFCI were so, and I'd want to know for certain what was being protected by the problem-child GFCI.

There might be something out there you should know about that's failing and tripping the GFCI.

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Originally posted by mark60:
Not an electrician but I learned a long time ago that an electric smoker usually trips a GFCI but not right away. Maybe a golden rod is similar in use. I think I'd try unplugging the rod and trying a lamp to see if the GFCI is bad or if they're just not playing nice together.

I've got 2 Little Chief electric smokers and for whatever reason they don't trip my GFIs. The heating elements are pretty similar to a Golden Rod in design and operation, though.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB: ...Here's a description of one GFI I've got. It's in the garage in the front of the house, just behind my auxiliary freezer. The next outlet that's daisy chained off of it is 15 yards back, on my patio...

My house is wired the same way. Back patio controlled by GFI in the garage. The guy I hired to inspect prior to purchase says that's the norm around here (Surprise, AZ).

Check your bath fan/light. If it's over the shower that may be what the GFI protects. Do not replace it with a standard outlet unless you can confirm where the circuit goes and that it's not something that is required to be GFI protected.

thought I'd add just in case it's relevant: A strong nearby radio transmitter can cause a GFCI to trip -- especially the older GFCI's. The transmitter has to be something stronger than your wiFi or Cell phone. Something like an AM radio station, a ham radio or a CB perhaps running an amp, among other things.

And yes, something plugged into the outlet (like the golden rod) can create an inadvertent antenna and perturb it further, causing it to trip if there is a nearby transmitter.

But having a strong radio transmitter nearby might be very unusual, depending on where you live and your neighbors.... Plus they improved the newer GFCI's so they aren't as sensitive to this.